PEAK TRAMWAY ORDINANCE, 1883

PEAK TRAMWAY ORDINANCE, 1883

No. 2 of 1883.
An0.rdinance for authorizing lite construction of the Peak
Tramway.
[3rd November, 1883.]

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Peak Trarnway
Ordinance, 1883.

2. In this Ordinance,

(a) ' Carriage ' includes all carriages, cars, and trucks used
upon the tramway.
(b) ' Company ' means the Peak Tramways Company
Limited.

(c) ' The works ' or ' the undertaking ' means the works
or undertaking of whatever nature which by this Ordinance are
or is authorized to be executed.

3.--(1) The company may construct and maintain, subject
to the provisions of this Ordinance and in accordance with the
Plan which has been deposited as hereinafter mentioned, the

As amended by No. to of 1926 [27.8.26].





tramway hereinafter described, with all proper stations, cross-
ings, passing places, sidings, junctions, rails, turn-tables, plates,
offices, weigh-bridges, sheds, works, and conveniences connected
therewith or for the purposes thereof, and may work and use
the same.

(2) The tramway authorized by this Ordinance is a partly
single and partly double line, commencing on the south side
of the south-west boundary of the War Department land at
its junction with Garden Aoad, thence passing in a southerly
direction up the hillside to Victoria Gap, crossing over Kennedy
and Plantation Roads by means of bridges, and terminating
at Victoria Gap, at a point on the north side of Farm Lot No.
53 : Provided that such alterations as the company may think
fit may be made in the position of the rail-tracks of the tramway
as shown on the plan thereof deposited by the company in the
Public Works Office, so long as they are within the limits of
deviation shown on the said plan.

4. Subject to the approval of the Governor in Council,
the company may alter the levels of the ground on which the
tramway is laid, make and construct all necessary cuttings and
embankments, bridges, viaducts, culverts, catch-water drains.
and other works,. and divert streams: Provided always that
the earth excavated and thrown to waste is disposed of in such
manner as to prevent its being washed down by rain into the
harbour.

5. Subject to the approval of the Governor in Council,
after timely and adequate notification by public advertisement
ot. otherwise of the intention of the company to apply for such
approval, the company may construct and maintain, subject
to the provisions of this Ordinance and in accordance with
plans to be previously deposited in the Public Works Office,
all such crossings. passing places,. sidings, junctions, turn-tables,
and other works in addition to those particularly specified in and
authorized by this Ordinance as may be approved by the
Governor in Council, and may work and use the same.

6. The tramway shall be constructed on a gauge not
exceeding five feet in width, and with steel rails, which shall,
before being iaid down, be approved by the Director of Public
Works.





Where the tramway, or any work connected there-
with, interferes. with any sewer, drain, watercourse, or subway,
or in any way affects the sewerage~or drainage of the Colony,
the company shall not commence such tramway or work until
it has given to the Director of Public Works fourteen days'
notice in writing of its intention to do so together with all
necessary particulars relating thereto, nor until the said Director
has signified his approval of the same, unless he does not
signify his approval, disapproval, or other directions within
fourteen days after service of the said notice and particulars.

(2) The company shall comply with the directions of the
Director of Public Works in the execution of the said works
and shall provide by new, altered, or substituted works, in such
manner as he may require, for the proper protection of, and
for preventing injury or impediment to, the sewers and works
hereinbefore referred to by or by reason of the tramway, and
shall save harmless the said Director against the expense
occasioned thereby.

(3) All such works shall be done by or under the super-
intendence of the said Director, at the cost and expense of the
company.

(4) When any new, altered, or substituted work is com-
pleted, the same shall thereafter be as completely under the
control of the said Director, and be maintained by him, as any
other sewers or works.

8. If any difference arises between the company and the
Director of Public Works with respect to ' any interference or
control exercised or claimed to be exercised by the company
or the Director, by virtue of this Ordinance, in relation to the
tramway or any work, or in relation to any work or proceeding
of the said Director, or with respect to the propriety or the
mode of execution of any work relating to the tramway, or on
the question whether any work is such as ought to satisfy the
said Director, or with respect to any other subject or thing
regulated by or comprised in this Ordinance, the matter in
difference shall (unless otherwise specially provided for by this
Ordinance) be settled by the Governor in Council, on the
application of either party.

9. The tramway shall not be opened for public traffic until
the same has been certified to he fit for such traffic by the





.Director of Public Works, and the Governor in Council has, by
notification in the Gazette, authorized the same to be opened
for such traffic.

10.-(i) If the company discontinues the working of the
tramway or of any part thereof for the space of six months,
(such Iscontinuance not being occasioned by circumstances
beyond the control of the company, the want of sufficient funds
not being considered a circumstance beyond its control), the
Governor in Council may, by order, declare that the powers
of the company in respect of such tramway, or the part thereof
so discontinued, shall, from the date of such order, be at an
end, and thereupon the said powers of the company shall cease
and determine, unless the tramway is purchased by the Govern-
ment in the manner provided by this Ordinance-

(2) Where any such order has been made, the Director of
Public Works may, it any time after the expiration of two
months from the iate of such order, under the authority of a
certificate to that effect, remove the tramway or part of the
tramway so discontinued, and the company shall pay the cost
of such removal which shall 6e certified by the said Director,
and the certificate shall be final and conclusive.

(3) If the company fails to pay the amount so certified
within two months after delivery of such certificate or a true
copy thereof, the said. Director may, without previous notice
to the company (but without. prejudice to any other remedy
which he may have for the recovery of the amount), sell and
dispose of the materials so removed, either by public auction
or private sale, and for such sum and to such person as he
may think fit, and may, out of the proceeds of such sale,
reimburse himself the amount of the cost certified as aforesaid
and of the cost of sale, and the balance, if any, shall be paid
to the company.

. 11. If it appears to the Governor in Council that the
company is insolvent, so that it is unable to maintain such
tramway or work the same with advantage to the public, the
Governor in Council may inquire into the financial affairs of
the company, and if it appears that the company is so insolvent
as aforesaid he may, by order, declare that the powers of the
company shall, at the expiration of six months from the making
of the order, be at an end, and the powers of the company





shall cease and determine at the expiration of the said period,
unless the tramway is purchased by the Government in the
manner provided by this Ordinance; and thereupon the Director
of Public Works may remove the tramway in like manner and
subject to the sarne provisions as to the payment of the cost of
such removal, and to the same remedy for recovery of such
cost, in every respect as in cases of removal under section io.

12.-(1) The Governor in Council may, within six months
after the expiration of twenty-eight years from the time when
the company was empowered to construct the tramway, and
within six months after the expiration of evety subsequent
period of seven years, or within three months after any order
made by the Governor in Council under section io or section
ii, by notice in writing require the company to sell, and there-
upon the Company shall sell, to the Government its undertaking
on the terms of paying the then value (exclusive of any
allowance for past or future profits of the undertaking or any
compensation for. compulsory sale or other consideration
whatsoever) of the tramway, and all lands, buildings, works,
materials, and plant, suitable to and used for the purposes of
its undertaking, such value to be, in cases of difference,
determined upon petition to the court in a summary way:
Provided that, if on any such land the company shall have
erected any building, or any portion of a building, for purposes
other than its undertaking, such land and the whole of such
building shall be deemed to be included in the undertaking unless
the Governor in Council by notice in writing declares that such.
land and building shall be excluded from the sale.

(2) When any such sale has been made, all the rights,
powers, and authorities of the company in respect of the
undertaking sold, or, where any order has been made by the
Governor in Council under section io or section ii, all the
rights, powers, and authorities of the company previous to the
making of such order in respect of the undertaking sold, shall
be transferred to, vested in, and may be exercised by the
Government.

13. The carriages, motive power, machinery, and apparatus
of any kind whatsoever, used on or for the tramway shall be

As amended by No. 17 of M5 [29.3.35].
f As-amended by No. 10 of 1926 [27.8.26].





subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, and no
carriage, motive power, machinery, or appar atus, which has
been disapproved by the Governor in Council shall be used
on or tor the tramway.

14. Every carriage used on the tramway shall be so con-
structed as to provide for the safety of passengers and for their
safe entrance to and exit from, and accommodation in such
carriage, and their protection from the machinery used for
drawing or propelling such carriage.

15. The Director of Public Works or any officer appointed
for that purpose by the Governor in writing, may inspect any
engine or carriage used by the company and the machinery
therein, and also any rope or other machinery of the tramway
an . d report thereon; and the Governor may, by order, prohibit
the use of any such engine, carriage, rope, or machinery which
may be repgrted to be unsafe or unfit for use.

16.--(1) It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to
make rules for any of the following purposes --
(a) for regulating the working and control of the tramway;
(b) for regulating the use of the warning apparatus affixed
to the engines or used in any othe~r way;
(c) for regulating the emission of smoke or steam from the.
engines;
(d) for providing that engines and carriages shall be
brought to a stand at such places, and in such cases of
impending danger, as may be deemed proper for securing safety;

(e) for regulating the entrance to, exit from, and accom-
modation in the carriages and the protection of p~ngers from
the machin6ry of any engine used for drawing or propelling
such carriagesi

for regulating the rate of speed of the engines and
carriages;

(g) for the stopping of carriages using the tramways;
0) for providing for the due. publicity of all rules and
by-laws relating to the tramway, by exhibition thereof in
conspicuous places; and

As amonded by No. 10 of 1926 [27.8.261.





(i) for providing for 'the safety of the public in all cases
in which it may appear that such safety is or is likely to be
endangered or imperilled.

(2) Subject to the previous approval of the Governor in
Council, it shall be lawful for the company to make by-laws-

(a) for preventing the commission of any nuisance in or
upon any carriage, or in or against any premises belonging
to the company; and

(b) for regulating the travelling in or upon any carriage
belonging to the company.
[(3), rep. No. 10 Of 1926.]

17.-(1) If the company or any other person contravenes
any of the provisions of any rule made under section 16 (1),
the company, or such other person as the case may be, shall
upon summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding two
hundred and fifty dollars, or in the case of a continuing offence
to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars for each day during which
the offence shall have continued : Provided that any such rule
may prescribe lower maximum penalties than the maximum
penalties specified above.

(2) If any person contravenes any of the provisions of any
by-law made under section 16 (2), he shall upon summary
conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars :
Provided that any such by-law may prescribe a lower maximum
penalty than one hundred dollars.

18.-(1) Subject to the approval of the Governor in Council
the company may sell or assign its undertaking, or any part
thereof, to such person, by public auction or private contract,
or partly by public auction and partly by private contract, and
with, under, and subject to such terms and conditions in all
respects, as the company may think fit, with power at any such
sale to fix a reserve price for or buy in the same.

(2) When any such sale or assignment has been made, all
the rights, powers, authorities, obligations, and liabilities of
the company in respect to the undertaking, or part thereof,
sold or assigned, shall be transferred to, vested in, and may
be exercised by, and shall attach to, the person to whom the
same has been sold or assigned, in like rnanner as if the under-

As amended by No. 10 of 1926 [27.8.26]-





taking, or part thereof, sold or assigned, was constructed by
such person under the powers conferred by this Ordinance, and
in reference to the same he shall be deemed to be the company.

19. Subject to the approval of the Governor in Council,
the company may demise its undertaking, or any part thereof,
to such person and for such term, and on such conditions, in
all respects. as the company may think fit, to take effect either
in possession or at some future date, and either with or without
a premium as a consideration for such demise.

20. it shall be lawful for the company to borrow money
on mortgage of all or any part of its undertaking, and for that
purpose to assign or demise by.way of mortgage all or any
portion of its lands, messuages, or tenements, erections, build-
ings, works, rolling stock, plant, rnacninery, chattels, and
effects to any person, and to enter into all such covenants,
provisos, declarations, and agreements, as the company may
think fit.

21. The Governor in Council may, by order, direct that
precedence over the company and all other persons in the user
of the tramway be taken for defensive or military purposes
or for the passage of troops and war material, on giving to
the company, on each occasion of such user, three clear days'
notice, and shall direct the payment to the company therefor
of such tolls as may be agreed on. If no agreement is come
to, then the amount of such tolls shall be determined upon
petition to the court in a summary way.

22. Save and except passengers' luggage not exceeding
sixteen pounds in weight or one cubic foot in measurement,
the company shall not be bound to carry any animals, goods,
merchandise, minerals, or parcels.

23.--(1) The company may demand and take the tolls
specified in the Schedule, which shall be paid to such persons,
and at such places, and in such manner as the company may,
by notice annexed to the list of tolls, appoint.

(2) A list, printed in the English and Chinese languages,
of all the tolls authorized to be taken shall be exhibited in a

* As amended by No. 10 of 1926 [27.8.26].





conspicuous place at the offices of the company and inside each
of the carriages used upon the tramway : Provided that if
there is any variation between the English and Chinese prints
of the said list, the English prints shall prevail.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to amend
the Schedule in any way which he may think fit.

24. If the carriages during any journey contain their
authorized complement of passengers, the company shall not
be bound to find accommodation for any other passenger,
notwithstanding that he may have purchased a ticket entitling
him to travel on the tramway.

25. Every person who wilfully obstructs any person acting
under the authority of the company in the lawful exercise of
any of the powers hereby conferred, or damages or destroys
any property of the company, shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding one hundred dollars.

26. Every person who wilfully and without lawful excuse-
(i) interferes with, removes, or alters any part of the tram-
way or of the works connected therewith; or
(2) places or throws any stones, dirt, wood, refuse, or other
materials on any part of the tramway; or

(3) does or causes to be done anything in such manner as
to obstruct any carriage using the tramway or to endanger
the lives of persons therein or thereon; or

(4) aids or assists in the doing of any of such things, shall
be liable (in addition to any proceedings by way of indictment
or otherwise to which he may be subject) to a fine not exceeding
one hundred dollars.

27. Every person who-
(i) while travelling or having travelled in any carriage,
avoids or attempts to avoid payment of his fare; or

(2) having paid his fare for a certain distance, knowingly
and wilfully proceeds in any carriage beyond such distance and
does not pay the additional fare for the additional distance,
or attempts to avoid payment thereof; or

* As amended by No. 10 of 1926 [27.8.26].
t As amended by Law Rev. Ord., 1937.





(3) knowingly and wilfully refuses or neglects, on arriving
at the point to which he has paid his fare, to quit any carriage,
shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

28. Every passenger shall, on request by any officer or
servant of the company, either produce, and if so requested
deliver up, a ticket showing that his fare is paid, or pay his
fare from the place whence he started, or give the officer or
servant his name and address.~ and in case of default he shall
be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

29. It shall be lawful for any officer or servant of the com-
pany, and all persons called by him to his assistance, to seize
and detain any person discovered either in or immediately after
committing or attempting to commit any such pfience as is
mentioned in sections 27 and 28 and whose name or residence
is unknown to such officer or servant, until such person can be
conveniently taken to a police station for safe custody and
detained until he is discharged by due course of law.

30. No person shall be entitled to carry or to require to
be carried on the tramway any dangerous goods as defined by
the Dangerous Goods Ordinance, 1873; and every person who
sends by the tramway any such goods, without distinctly
marking their nature on the outside of the vessel or package
containing the same, or otherwise giving notice in writing to
the book-keeper or other servant with whom the same are left,
at the time of such sending, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
one hundred dollars. It shall further be lawful for the company
to refuse to take any parcel that it may suspect to contain any
such dangerous goods or require the same to be opened to
ascertain the fact.

31. Any summons, writ, or other proceeding required to
be served on the company may be served by the same being
left at, or sent by pos ' t directed to, the principal office of the
company, or being given or sent by post directed to the
-,ecretary, or, in case there is no secretary, the solicitor of the
company.

32. With respect to notices, and to the delivery thereof by or
to the company, the following provisions shall have effect

* As amended Dy No. 10 of M [27.8.261.





(i) every notice shall be in writing; and

(2) a notice to be delivered by or to the company to or by
any other company or person may be delivered by being left
at the office of such other company or person, Or at the then
present or then last-known place of abode -or residence of such
person, or of his ostensible agent, or of other the agent who
pays the rents, rates, and taxes payable in respect of the
property of si,-h person, or by being affixed on some con-
spicuous part of any lands affected or intended to be affected
by such notice, or by being left at the office of the company,
as the case may be, or by being sent by post in a registered
letter addressed, as the case may be, to the clerk or secretary
of such other company at its principal office, or to such person
at his then present or then last-known place of abode or residence
or at his office or business premises, or by being so sent by
post addressed to the ostensible agent or agents of such person,
or other the agent or agents aforesaid, or to the clerk or secretary
of the company at its principal office.

33.-(1) If any party has committed any irregularity,
trespass or 'other wrongful proceeding in the execution of this
Ordinance or by virtue of any power or authority hereby given,
and' if, before action broug!~(. in respect thereof, such party
makes tender of sufficient amends to the party injured, such
last-mentioned party shall not recover in 'any such action.

(2) If no such tender has been made, it shall be lawful
for the defendant, by leave of the court wherein such action
is pending, at any time before answer filed, to pay into court
such sum of money as he may think fit, and thereupon such
proceedings shall be had as in other cases where defendants
are allowed to pay money into court.

34. Every toll, or penalty imposed by this Ordinance, the
recovery of which is not otherwise provided for, may be
recovered before a magistrate.

35. The company shall be answerable for all accidents,
damages, and injuries happening through its act or default,
or through the act or default of any person in its employment,
by reason or in consequence of any of its works or carriages,
and shall save harmless all other companies or bodies, collectively





and individually, their officers and servants, from-all damages
and costs in respect of such accidents, damages, and injuries.

36. Notwithstanding anything in this Ordinance, the com-
pany and any persons using the tramway shall be subject and
liable to the provisions of any general Ordinance now in force or
which may hereafter be passed relating to tramways, or by which
any tax or duty may be granted or imposed for or in respect
of tramways or the passengers or traffic conveyed thereon, and
to any condition, regulation or restriction which may be imposed
on the use of tramways, or on the use on tramways of animal
power, steam power, or any mechanical power, by any such
general Ordinance as aforesaid.

37. The powers an d privileges given by this Ordinance
are so given saying and, reserving always the rights. of. His
Majesty.

;SCHEDULE.

TABLE . OF. TOLLS. [s. 23.]

1. For every passenger travelling on the tramway or any par t
thereof-

(1) as a first class passenger, any sum not exceeding...30. cents.
(2) as a second class passenger, ... 20
(3) as -a third class passenger. ...10 11

2.For every small animal, per head ... 10
3. For parcels not exceeding 7 lb. in weight, each ... 5
99 9Pexceeding 7 lb. and not exceeding 14 lb ... 10
14 lb. 28 lb ... 15
28 lb. 56 lb ... 20
56 lb. in weight, such sum as the com-
pany may think fi t.

The weight shall be determined according to the usual avoirdupois
weight.
[Originally No. 6 of 1883. No. 10 of 1926. No. 17 of 1935.] Short title. Interpretation. Power to construct and work certain tramways. Power to alter levels of ground, etc. Power to make additional crossings, etc. Gauge. Protection of sewers, etc. Settlement of difference between company and Director of Public Works. Opening of tramway for traffic. Discontinuance of tramway by company. Proceedings in case of insolvency of company. Purchase by Government of tramway. Motive power, etc. Construction of carriages. Inspection of engines, etc. Rules and by-laws. [27.8.26.] Penalties for breaches of rules and by-laws. Power to sell undertaking. Power to let undertaking. Power to mortgage undertaking. Right of user by Government. Company may refuse to carry certain goods. Tolls. Schedule. Limitation of obligation to carry passengers. Obstruction of person acting under authority of company, etc. Interfering with tramway, etc. [cf. No. 2 of 1865, s. 30A, and No. 6 of 1865, s. 27A.] Avoiding payment of fare, etc. Production of tickets on request; avoiding payment of fare. 52 & 53 Vict. C. 57, s. 5. Detention of offender. Penalty for bringing dangerous goods on tramway. Ordinance No. 1 of 1873. Service of summons, etc. Form and delivery of notice. Tender of amends Recovery of tolls, etc. Responsibility of company for damage. Saving for general Ordinances, etc. Reservation of rights of the Crown.

[Originally No. 6 of 1883. No. 10 of 1926. No. 17 of 1935.] Short title. Interpretation. Power to construct and work certain tramways. Power to alter levels of ground, etc. Power to make additional crossings, etc. Gauge. Protection of sewers, etc. Settlement of difference between company and Director of Public Works. Opening of tramway for traffic. Discontinuance of tramway by company. Proceedings in case of insolvency of company. Purchase by Government of tramway. Motive power, etc. Construction of carriages. Inspection of engines, etc. Rules and by-laws. [27.8.26.] Penalties for breaches of rules and by-laws. Power to sell undertaking. Power to let undertaking. Power to mortgage undertaking. Right of user by Government. Company may refuse to carry certain goods. Tolls. Schedule. Limitation of obligation to carry passengers. Obstruction of person acting under authority of company, etc. Interfering with tramway, etc. [cf. No. 2 of 1865, s. 30A, and No. 6 of 1865, s. 27A.] Avoiding payment of fare, etc. Production of tickets on request; avoiding payment of fare. 52 & 53 Vict. C. 57, s. 5. Detention of offender. Penalty for bringing dangerous goods on tramway. Ordinance No. 1 of 1873. Service of summons, etc. Form and delivery of notice. Tender of amends Recovery of tolls, etc. Responsibility of company for damage. Saving for general Ordinances, etc. Reservation of rights of the Crown.

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